1. Field of the Invention
The present invention essentially comprises new technology in the development of a modular tile with means to position, index and maintain position to an access floor panel system, while remaining removable and replaceable without the use of adhesive indexing tools, or fixtures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the advent of access flooring, comprised of a modular embodiment of a rigid structural floor panel supported on pedestal columns, being used as an accessible floor providing an underfloor space or cavity for use in distributing HVAC, electrical power, CRT, and other communication connections, in the office space, problems arose with the finish on the floor which was typically carpet. The initial access flooring for such purposes had the carpet finish bonded to each modular panel at the factory, where the finish could be exactly indexed by fixturing and manufacturing methods which maintained the carpet module to the exact dimensions of the panel module. This bonding and registration provided the ability to move individual panels and their covering as one unit from space to space in the building, which allowed for movement of electrical, telephone and HVAC penetrations to other locations as offices were moved within the building.
When this factory-applied carpet required replacement, the carpet could, with difficulty, be stripped from the access floor panel, but required similar indexing and manufacturing means as provided in the factory, to index and apply in a modular fashion new carpet to the access floor panel.
Typical prior art of this type of construction is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,681,882 to Bettinger, issued 8/8/72; 3,811,237 to Bettinger, issued 5/21/74; 4,085,557 to Tharp, issued 4/25/78; and 3,548,559 to Levine, issued 12/22/70.
Although application of carpet to the access floor panel in this manner provided a consistent module, other problems were created. Typically, in a building cycle, the access floor is installed prior to other services being installed in the building such as a sprinkler system, drywall, and electrical and telephone distribution. Since these services were being installed over a finished carpeted floor, efforts were required to protect this floor while these other trades were working. Protection was expensive and often inadequate, causing costly cleaning and, in some cases, replacement of both carpet and panel, due to damage to the bonded finish.
In recent years, this problem has been overcome by use of carpet tiles which typically are modular carpet squares with a more rigid vinyl backing, to hold a tile flat when laid. Such carpet tile, although modular, has no means to maintain a consistent module with the access floor panel, and typically is of a different module size. Normally, such carpet tile also requires use of a releasable adhesive, in total or in part, to prevent shifting of the tile on the access floor panel surface.
Use of tiles of this type, because they are not modular to the access floor panel, requires significant additional carpet stock to be maintained, so that when offices are relocated with their supporting service penetrations through the access floor, the tiles that do not line up in the new area, must be discarded, and replaced with new tiles. Typical additional tile stock, based on a rate of 2.5 affected tiles per move, an office-move rate of 25% per year, and a 10-year life cycle, requires 25% additional tiles to be purchased initially, which will insure uniformity of carpet color over the life of the building.
Prior art in the access floor industry has failed to maintain the tile module with the access floor module, to reduce this excessive initial cost, in any other manner other than factory-glued carpet with its own set of problems. Attempts have been made to field index and laminate carpet access floor panels, but the extra handling costs and reduced efficiency is not cost effective.
The mere use of a projection on a tile or fixture for location purposes is not new, as shown by the following prior U.S. patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Name Date of Patent ______________________________________ 2,135,118 Stewart 11/01/38 1,704,537 Haines 03/05/29 4,143,496 Destito 03/13/79 ______________________________________
In reviewing said prior art patents, although each demonstrates positioning of a tile or fixture by use of projections, dimples, or spring clips, each is functioning on a continuous surface, and maintains no modularity to a modular substructure. Should a large section of the substructure require removal, multiple tile or fixture units which would require removal for access.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,704,537 to Haines, the position and modular tile when indexed on the substrate is then cemented to the substrate, and the protrusions are used for initial positioning only, but fixity is maintained by the tile cemented to the substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,135,118 to Stewart, demonstrates embodiments of rough locating projections and spring clip arrangements that are then cemented or adhered in place for maintenance of final positioning. Here, as in other prior art, the tiles or fixtures are modular to one another, but are not modular to a modular substrate.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,496 to Destito, a flat rectangular holding frame member is provided on one side with adhesive tape adjacent the edge thereof, which is covered by a peel-off film which, upon removal, allows the frame to be applied to the surface of a wall for adherence thereto, and on the other side, is provided with a snap fastener for removably holding a flat, domino decoration-bearing rectangular face member which is similar in size and shape to that of the frame member, having a mating snap fastener on the back thereof, in place thereon, so that a wall decorated with a plurality of different domino spots, or blanks, can be arranged on the frame member at will without removing the frame members from the wall surface. It can therefore be appreciated that in Destito, a series of frames are attached to the wall, which itself is not modular, by adhesion and, while the frames are modular to one another, such are not modular to the wall surface. Furthermore, Destito relates merely to a wall decorating device rather than to a modular tile for an access floor panel system as utilized in the present invention.
In other parallel prior art to the present invention, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,874 to Hopper, et al, issued 1/20/75, the modular rug unit is shown which is mechanically fastened to one of a number of embodiments of tape substructures which allow for individual and/or entire unit removal from the substrate. This requires layout of the tape arrangement in an overall, not modular pattern, and would not provide individual access through the substrate, in a consistent modular fashion.
One other parallel U.S. patent which demonstrates similar technology to one embodiment of the present patent is U.S. Pat. No. 3,341,996 to Jones, et al, issued 9/19/67 which shows a magnetic backing material or substrate material for use in holding modular tiles to a substrate. This prior art does not demonstrate any modular fixing to the substructure, although the tiles may be made modular to one another. Use of this prior art would allow for application of tile modules to a panel in a similar fashion to factory-applied carpet, but would require similarly indexing and other manufacturing means to maintain modular alignment to the access floor panel system.
By such exploration, it has been determined that the prior art, although demonstrating some similar embodiments to embodiments included in the present invention, does not demonstrate the key features provided in the current invention.